ACUTE ABDOMEN - PLAIN FILM UTILIZATION AND ANALYSIS

Abdominal radiographs are commonly requested indiscriminately for pati ents with abdominal pain, but the results of many such examinations ar e negative or nonspecific. In today's era of high-technology studies, such as ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance im aging, plain abdominal radiography is still appropriate in some situat ions, and the interpretation of abdominal plain films remains an essen tial and challenging component of most radiology practices. This artic le reviews a number of issues regarding the use of plain radiography: the common causes of abdominal pain in patients presenting to a typica l emergency department; the appropriate indications for this type of e xamination so that the number of unnecessary examinations is minimized and the diagnostic yield thereby maximized; and the appropriate views to be obtained, the rationale for their use and a proposed format for standardized viewing of abdominal plain films. The article concludes with a practical review of some commonly misunderstood points regardin g the bowel gas pattern and ascites.